Mortgage brokers are bracing for a busy 2024 as December sees business pick up.
As mortgage rates have begun to edge down in recent months and the base rate looks to have peaked, brokers are already seeing an uptick in work.
After a "steady" 2023, Rhys Schofield, brand director at Peak Mortgages and Protection, is expecting pent up demand to feed into the market next year.
He said: "We have now written the same number of mortgages four months in a row. Here at the coalface, it feels that there is a lot of pent-up demand for a rip-roaring start to 2024.
"Estate agents have properties to sell and customers are once again being pleasantly surprised by rates as they continue to improve.”
The rise in demand is already being felt at Sett Mortgages in Leeds compared with this time last year.
Owner Elliott Benson said: "By the end of this week I will have done the same number of mortgages as the entirety of last December.
"Enquiries are much higher than this time last year and I get the feeling January will be a really hectic month as people realise that fixed rates are falling and there hasn't been the apocalyptic market crash that some predicted.
"We are taking on another broker and plan to develop the team with a second and another apprentice as we expect 2024 to be massive.”
And it is not only this business hiring new staff ahead of a potentially busy first quarter of 2024, according to Marcus Nanson, managing director at Southampton-based financial services recruiter, NRG Resourcing.
He said: "As rates have continued to edge down for some time now, I think we can all sense the green shoots of hope going into 2024 and businesses have quickly realised they will need to bolster their teams to keep customer service levels from dropping.
"I think consumers have now adjusted to the new normal in rates, and with less volatility in rates and inflation, the brokers we work with are seeing a much higher increase in enquiries, which bodes well for 2024 and hopefully beyond."
However, it remains to be seen what could happen in the markets with an upcoming election, for which a date has not yet been set.
Michelle Lawson, director at Lawson Financial added: “What will happen and what we wish will happen are two very different things. I think we will start to see things pick up at the start of next year as rates have been falling nicely and should boost consumer confidence.
"The only concern for 2024 is that we will have a general election. We can only hope that we get a housing minister who sits in the seat long enough to warm it up."
Thanks to the Newspage community for sharing their thoughts with FTAdviser.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
